Friday, April 18, 2014

It’s time to celebrate spring
and our growing season during Greening My Plate week, leading up to
the opening day of the Watauga County Farmers’ market on May 3rd. Over a dozen
community events will take place from April 27th – May 4th,
including a farm tour with greens being harvested by high school students, a
greens culinary contest and tasting at the high school, film viewings,
educational workshops, children’s book readings and activities, and even county
and town proclamations for Greening My Plate Week.Events have been organized bya
coalition of non-profits and individuals, the Greening My Plate Gang. This coalition is dedicated to
improving the economic and personal health of our community by encouraging the
consumption of fresh, locally produced food.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

It’s time for spring break! What will your kids be doing with their time
away from school?Whether your children
will be traveling or staying at home, the simple opportunity for free play can
be a gift.

Are youth losing time for free play?It seems that young people are more likely to
be in structured, supervised activities.According to Melman, over the past 20 years, youth have faced a 25%
decrease in playtime and 50% decrease in outdoor activities.Less free time and leisure activities and
overscheduling may lead to increased anxiety and stress. That does not mean we want to entirely give up
structured activities, but discern how much is too much and work to create
balance.

While we may be pushing for academic achievement and other
structured activities, a play break could help out in our endeavors more than we
realize. Play is cited as an integral part
of child development, helping increase cognitive and academic success, building
social skills and self-esteem, fostering
emotional strength, helping youth explore the natural world and more.If we take a play break, we actually
boost our learning.So, while a week’s
break is great, how can we add breaks and free time into our regular schedules?

May you allow space for free time and play during spring
break and beyond.

Monday, April 7, 2014

It is not too late to get fruit plants with the 4-H fruit
plant sale.Plants will be on-hand
Friday, April 11 from 12:00-6:00 and Saturday, April 12 from 9:30-12:30 at the
Agricultural Conference Center on 252 Poplar Grove Road.Blackberry, blueberry, raspberry and
strawberry plants are available, as well as heritage apple trees.You can still reserve your berries before
Friday, or drop in Friday afternoon or Saturday morning to see what is still
available.For more information about
the varieties, see here: http://watauga4h.blogspot.com

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Watauga County Cooperative Extension provides residents easy access to resources and expertise of NC State University and NC A&T State University on a wide array of topics. Please browse our site or contact us by phone: 828.264.3061.

We are located at 971 West King Street, Boone, NC 28607.

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